The Forgotten Hero
by Monicmaker
Summary: When the Hero of Legend does not show up in the time of need, what happens to hyrule and what can this new hero do to not only save his homeland, but to stop the terrible future that will change Hyrule forever?
1. Chapter 1 The Dream

**Chapter 1**

Well as weird as it seems, my story begins as a dream. As it seems, I am no stranger to dreams; I had dreams of all sorts of things many of these things were just random things that never made sense, but tonight was different.

I dreamed I was in a dark room in the middle of the night. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I noticed this room seemed to reach towards the heavens. The room looked like it was once regal in design, but now it was in shambles. Three large thrones were littered across the room all tipped over. The walls had scratches all over it as if fighting occurred here earlier and the floor was stained with…. I don't want to think about what it was. Something major happened here, I'm sure, and I'm pretty sure this place I'm dreaming of isn't imaginary.

And then, behind me I began to hear the sobbing of a young girl. Alarmed, I tried to find a place to hide. After failing to find a place to hide, I turned to see who else was in the room. Who I found here was someone who I never thought would be in such an unkempt of place, Princess Zelda. She didn't notice me here so I began to calm down.

I haven't seen her in person before, but there was no doubt about it. She was in her royal dress with Hyrule's crest stitched to the front. Her blonde hair fell delicately on her shoulders and a little hung on her face. Even through her tears I could tell she was a beauty.

She began to walk in my direction. While she still didn't seem to notice me, she began mumbling something underneath her breath. "Stupid boy…..shouldn't have trusted him….. My home destroyed because of him."

Then I began to realize where I was. I was in Hyrule Castle, the most royal place in Hyrule; but there was something wrong here. The Hyrule Castle I heard of was a beautiful place, this was clearly the opposite. What had happened here? Why was I being shown this? Before I could listen more to what the princess was saying I felt a tug on my shoulders, like I was being pulled

.

"LINK!" I woke up startled by my sister Aryl. She was holding me by the shoulders shaking me hard. Her tiny arms managed to still pull me out of bed. "I can't believe you're sleeping in today of all day. Get up; it's the day of the Hero!"


	2. Chapter 2 The Gift

**Chapter 2**

"We already know the hero of legend is just that, a legend. " I said irritated that my sister had woke me up, especially when her ways for waking me up can be rough. "I'll meet up with you guys downstairs, ok. Now let me, at least, change my clothes in peace."

"Ok, you better hurry up though; Grandma has a _very _special gift she would like to give you." The way Aryll emphasized _very_ made me uneasy. She began to snicker as if she had just heard an inside joke and left the room.

I didn't let the uneasiness my sister's words gave me stay for long. I was too worried about the dream I had last night. I couldn't decide if the situation shown was actual events or not. It felt so real, yet it was still shown to me in a dream. A thought crossed into my mind, 'What if this has something to do with the legendary hero?' I quickly rejected the idea, 'There was no legendary hero' I reassured myself.

I decided to put this dream aside for now and changed into my favorite clothes, my blue and white lobster shirt and an orange pair of pants. They weren't the fanciest clothes I owned but they were special to me.

I went downstairs to find my grandmother sitting in her chair and Aryll standing next to her. "Link, as you know, today is the day of the hero. Although the Hero is said to have died thousands of years ago, we still believe that he is protecting us from another threat from the Evil King. To commemorate the Hero for what he has done, a boy is chosen to dress up as the Hero of legend; but as time went on the tradition has slowly faded away. I would like you to maintain this ancient tradition." She passed a small, green box to me. "Customs should be passed on from one generation to the next. While others your age won't pass on these traditions, I believe you will. Now, go on, open it and try it on. "

The box felt heavy in my hands all of a sudden. I slowly opened the box, and as she said, there were the Hero's garments. The last thing I wanted to do was to dress up like a folk legend. I didn't want any of this, but I couldn't tell grandmother. My face must have shown my disappointment because Aryll began to smirk at me.

"I…I love it, thanks Grandmother." I forced myself to say.

"Now how are you going to say you love it if you haven't tried it on yet?" Grandmother said.

"Yes, Link. Go try it on so I, no we, can see if it fits you." Aryll added on, enjoying this moment trying to hide her giggles.

'Why do I have to be chosen to wear this stupid outfit?' I thought to myself as I trudged upstairs to my room.

As soon as I got to my room, I threw the box onto my bed with the clothes inside. I took out the clothes and had a closer examination on them. They were stitched nicely together showing how much work Grandmother had put into this. Knowing that she worked so hard to create this makes it so much harder to hate this, if only by a little.

I changed into the outfit. I looked into the mirror and begun to notice how fitting it was. Nothing was too loose or too tight. The main problem I had was that I felt like I was wearing a skirt…. Why Grandmother, why? Also I had a sock on my head, which I didn't appreciate either. It didn't matter that these clothes fit me, I couldn't stand them; but I wanted to make my grandmother happy. I walked towards the door of my room, about to go outside and embarrass myself.

I slowly made my way downstairs, each step felt like weights were being added to my body. The trip down stairs felt like a thousand years had gone by. Grandmother saw me and began to smile. "It fits you perfectly, dear. You look like a true hero." She began to clap.

"Yes, a _true _hero" Aryll began to snicker again. She pulled out a camera, "Say Cheese, big brother!"

"What? No, don't take a picture of me in this!" I tried to hide my face from the camera when she took it.

Grandmother's facial expression darkened, "Why don't you want your picture taken? Don't you love my gift to you?"

I-I do love it Grandmother, it's just….," I hesitated. Thinking of the right words to say, "Grandmother, I don't like the outfit" I confessed. Whoever said the truth would set you free was a liar. I was tempted to tell her I didn't believe in the Hero also, but I didn't want to make things worse. I felt terrible and looked towards the ground. I couldn't look up to see my grandmother's face; she would, surely, be disappointed in me.

"Link," I forced myself to look up at Grandmother, "I am happy that you were honest with me. Such a fool, I would have been if I let you parade around town when you hated the costume and our past traditions. You may go now and change."

I felt extremely terrible now. Aryll took another picture of me as I turned and walked towards the ladder leading to me room upstairs. Sometimes, I can't stand my sister.

As I was climbing the ladder to get to my room, I heard a soft whisper in my ear, 'Hero, My hero, come find me at the castle.'


	3. Chapter 3 The Breakdown

**Chapter 3**

I froze. The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't picture who sounded like that. It didn't sound like Aryll, besides she was still beside Grandmother looking into her camera, giggling. "This hero thing is messing with my head" I said to myself and continued upstairs.

When I got to my room, I took off my sock-hat and threw it on the floor. "Aryll _had _to take a picture. " I sat down on my bed, my head down; mad at myself for telling Grandmother how I truly felt about the "Hero's" Garments. Why does she believe in this fairy tale anyways?

'The Hero is no fairy tale; if you trust me, you would come to my castle and you'll be my hero.'

The room became silent. I checked to see if anyone was in the room. I was all alone. I began to shiver; I know I didn't make this voice this time. Someone else was talking to me, I'm sure of it now. "I know that I must be crazy to ask this, but… who are you?" I sat on my bed, waiting for a reply. Soon, I began to realize whoever it was wouldn't reply.

"Ughhhhh!" I threw my head into a pillow and began to scream. "First the stupid dream, then this stupid costume and now this stupid voice! It's so stupid!" Tears began to flow down my face as I laid there full of frustration. I soon found myself asleep due to exhaustion.

The last thing I wanted was another dream. I appeared in a bedroom and I was alone. The bed was made and had silky covers over it with a three triangle design over it. The walls were painted golden and had pictures of three women holding the same three triangles as on the bed. What is up with the triangles here? Anyways, each woman was dressed in fancy attire and they each were surrounding a little castle. I began to feel sick in my stomach. I knew where I was, but I thought this place was destroyed.

My head began to throb; can I feel pain in a dream? I felt a cool chill throughout the room. I wasn't alone anymore. I quickly looked back at the bed again. Lying, calmly, on top of the bed, in a praying position, was a girl faced away from me. Even from behind, I knew she was the princess. I began to blush because I thought I was intruding on Zelda in her room. I began to back away, slowly, until she began to talk, "Welcome, my hero, to my home, Hyrule Castle. I am only able to speak to you through your mind for a limited amount of time." I froze. She was the voice in my head from earlier. "Please, come to my castle so we can meet; I have… plans for you."

I dared to walk forward and talk to the princess, "How are you talking to me? Why didn't you reply earlier when I was calling to you? And what happened to Hyrule Castle?"

"Please leave tonight…" she ignored me. Zelda stood up from her position and my vision began to blur. The world soon became dark and I couldn't breathe.

I woke up with my face on my pillow. My head still throbbed from my dream, which is confusing, and I had slobbered a little in my sleep. I sat up and looked into the mirror to see my eyes were bloodshot red from crying earlier and my hair was messy. I looked like a total wreck.

I looked outside from my window to see it was nighttime. I crept downstairs to see whether or not Grandmother and Aryll were still there or if they went to their room. Thankfully, they weren't in the room.

'_Please leave tonight' _These words rang threw my mind. Should I leave? I wouldn't know where to go since only royals and those chosen were allowed to go to Hyrule Castle.

'_Please leave tonight' _she repeated. I should go. The princess needs me I'm her hero. I began walking downstairs.

I stopped and thought to myself, 'This hero isn't REAL! The dreams aren't real! Don't think crazy link." I tried to find confidence in arguing that none of this is real but I couldn't.

'_Please leave tonight' _Her voiced echoed in my head. Before I knew what I was doing I was opening my front door.

"I guess I am crazy"


	4. Chapter 4 The Trip

**Chapter 4**

As I walked outside, I was greeted with the last person I ever wanted to meet at a time like this, the only person who I truly loathed, the guy who loved to bully me around all the time, Mido. He would be caught dead before he was seen being near me. Today he looked very irritated.

"What do you want, Mido." I tried to stay quiet so Grandmother and Aryll couldn't hear us.

"Your grandma told me to come over here and get you blah, blah, blah. Come on, Nerd, your holding me back from the festival." He grabbed me tightly and pulled my arm so hard I almost fell.

"Let me go!" I struggled to get away from him. I finally broke free not understanding what Mido just said. "What festival?"

"The festival of the Hero. You know when we give offerings to the statue of the Hero for saving us a long, long time ago." He said it slowly as if he was talking to a child.

It wasn't my fault I forgot about the dumb festival. Each year we do some sort of celebration to thank this Hero guy, but it feels allot more like worshipping. Even if this hero guy existed I'm sure he wouldn't have wanted to be praised for what he did. These sorts of things are the reasons why I refused to think the hero was real.

He was beginning to annoy me but l decided to keep things peaceful. "Look, I wish I could go, but I have somewhere else-"

"Yeah you're going to the festival" Mido interrupted me, grabbed my arm again, tighter this time, and began to drag me towards the village's center. I tried to break free again but Mido held on tighter this time. I was barely able to walk and when I could he went faster dragging me along further. I hated him.

I had to get to Hyrule Castle tonight, if my dreams were correct, but if I made it to the festival, there would be no way I could sneak out without anyone else noticing. Maybe I could trip him or something? No, he would tell everyone else I ran away and they would search for me. I couldn't find a way out of this so I decided there was nothing else I could do besides go with him.

The trip to the village center takes about forty minutes by foot. When I finally was able to keep up with him without being dragged from behind, he looked over at my outfit analyzing it. I just noticed I didn't change from the Hero's outfit besides taking off the sock-cap. "Nice outfit, I can't wait to tell the rest of the Kokiri gang about this; little Link over here dressing up as the hero. How cute. Are you crying now?"

I began to blush from embarrassment. I began to run faster than Mido making him work harder to catch up with me. His grip loosened and I could have broken free but decided to have him try to catch up with me for a chance.

Soon we both began to tire out. Mido, letting go of me, leaned on me sweating heavily onto me, gross. I would have pushed him off of me but I was too tired to care. We walked for around five minutes in silence. For once neither of us fought with each other. This was nice.

The closer we got to the center of the village the more light we saw coming on the horizon. Soon the dark night became bright and glamorous. The light was almost blinding when we got closer. It seemed the whole village was there.

"We made finally made it… Link" he paused when deciding what to call me. I was surprised he called me by name. He never did that before.

"Let's go in" I found the strength to run into the festival. We didn't make it far before we were stopped by this short, pudgy man. I believe his name was tingle.

"Why hello, Link!" He said. "That outfit fits you perfectly! It reminds me of the fairies I once grew up with. And you have a friend with you. Hello there, Midas!"

"It's Mido, Tingle" Mido said through his teeth. "Listen, where link's grandmother is, she needs him right now."

Tingle looked at Mido and me and twirled around and pointed to the stage, "She's behind the curtains waiting for the star of the show!"


	5. Chapter 5 The King

**Chapter 5**

"Wait, who's performing?" I asked Tingle. I felt a chill go down my spine. I had a feeling I knew who was going to star in the play, but I wouldn't allow myself to believe it.

"Hahaha, you are such a card!" He said as if the answer was obvious. "Let me give you a hint. Who is the handsome young man dressed up as the legendary Hero?" He began to chuckle and ran off into the crowds surrounding the stage. Tingle is a very, very strange man.

I stood there, speechless at the thought of me parading around in this costume. She told me I could take off this stuff earlier so why did she plan me to go on stage? I need to tell her that I'm not doing this.

"Let's go, Mido"

"I got you to the place so my job is done." Mido said. "See you later nerd, I'm going to meet the King" He turned and ran off before I could ask him who this king was. I guess I would have to find out later.

I began to walk towards the stage. When I reached the stairs, I looked in the crowd, I saw a man looking at me. He had fancy garments on and a crown, which meant he was probably the king Mido mentioned. His presence made me feel uncomfortable. I knew he wasn't the King of Hyrule so what kingdom did he control?

'_Don't trust the Gerudo'_ I heard a whisper in my head. It was the voice of Zelda. I didn't know what a Gerudo was, but I had a feeling it had something to do with this king. I noticed I paused and stared at him too long and continued toward backstage.

Behind stage, there were around twenty people, all which were actors. They all had their faces painted in golden colors and had clothes similar to mine, but they were golden. I began to look for Aryll and Grandmother but they weren't there.

"Uh, hello," I tapped a golden person on the shoulder, "Have you seen my sister Aryll or my Grandmother around here?"

The golden person turned around and smiled, "Oh, hey Link!" Under the face paint I could see it was Saria, one of my few friends from childhood. Saria began to look at me carefully then her face grew with concern. "Are you ok? Your eyes are red and your hair is unkempt."

"Oh, I'm fine. I'm just tired," I lied to her. "Anyway, have you seen my sister or grandmother?"

She crossed her arms and thought for a few seconds, "Well… I did see Aryll earlier. She was waiting for you, but when you didn't come she went somewhere… Oh yeah, she's finalizing the painting of Hyrule Castle! You can find her in the trap room downstairs. You might also find your grandmother there too, Link."

"Thanks, Saria." I rushed to the stairs leading to the trap room.

"It's no problem," she said from behind, "But you should get ready for the play, if you are going to star in it!"

Downstairs, in the trap room, I squinted my eyes, forcing straining my eyes to focus on what is happening. There was one single light in the middle of the room, yet it was dimly lit. After my eyes adjusted, I began to see Aryll finishing her painting of Hyrule Castle, just as Saria had said. The painting looked like the little ones I've seen in my dreams, which made me a little nervous.

"Uh, Aryll, is that you?" I asked.

"Hey, Big Brother," she welcomed me. "What's up?"

"Do you know where Grandmother is?"

"She went to get the prop sword. Until then, you can help me with this." She lifted up her painting. The painting was on a cardboard cutout of a castle, which fit the picture perfectly. On the sides of the cardboard were several holes. "First, tie the strings into the holes on the side of the cardboard. Then, place the cardboard under the trap door over there so that it can be pulled up with said rope when we want it to. Knowing you this might be too much for you." She smirked as she left the room.

"Why did she leave me with this? I'm terrible at tying knots," I said to myself, knowing no one else would hear me down here.

I did what Aryll said and attempted to tie the rope to the cardboard and moved the painting in the right position. Afterwards, I went upstairs to meet Saria, who was practically glowing.

"Hey Link!" she said, "I found your grandmother. She's about to start the play right now."

"Thanks again, Saria." I ran past her in the direction of Grandmother.

When I finally reached her I managed to pull her back just in time before she exited to the stage. "Grandmother, we need to talk."

"I know you don't want to do this but please, Link, there is no one else who I can choose this late. Here take this sword…" She gave me the sword and paused as if she is studying how I looked for the first time, "What happened to you? Your hat is missing and you look like a mess."

"I left my hat at home and I just woke up, Grandmother."

"Oh well, Child. I have to start the play fast before the crowd leaves. We have a special guest out there and we don't want the King to be disappointed. This will be his last stop before he reaches Hyrule Castle!"


	6. Chapter 6 The Play

**Chapter 6**

"Well, grandson, you see this is a children's play. I know you are such a creative young lad so you can just make things up as they go. Plus I will give you the cues for what to do with this." Grandmother said this while pointing at a script for her.

"But grandmother-" I tried to reply but Grandmother put her finger over her mouth and shushed me.

"Now I'm off to start the play and I better not hear any more 'buts' coming from you anymore, Link." She passed through the curtains, and on the other side of the stage, I could hear her introducing herself.

"Hello, everyone, my name is Gertrude. I am here to narrate the children's play based on the true story of the heroic deeds of the Hero, who will be played by my grandson Link. As we begin our story, we see our hero waking up in his bed getting ready for his journey."

The curtains began to open. I looked around and everyone who was once backstage were gone leaving me alone here. I ran to the side of the stage and hid until I felt someone tap my shoulder.

"Hey, Link, it's your cue" Saria whispered into my ear. She gently shoved me and I tripped over the fake sword at my side. "I'm so sorry!" She whispered again louder this time.

I was on my knees and hands with crowd of people staring at me. My grandmother coughed and restated, "We see our hero waking up in his bed getting ready for his journey."

I tried to move but I couldn't. A few seconds later, I managed to pretend to wake up in a bed, since there were no props on stage. I couldn't believe how bad I messed up. Even though I screwed up, the king guy stared at me with intrigue.

Grandmother cleared her throat and then continued her script, "When the hero Link was awoken he was greeted with a fairy friend, who we will call tingle in this play."

As if on cue, Tingle was slowly lowered to the stage in a fairy costume. How do I describe his outfit? Well it was disgustingly too small for his pudgy demeanor. He had a pink tiara on his head that matched his pink tutu on him. At any moment, I had a feeling his clothing would rip apart due to how tight it was. Tingle began to wave into the crowd, which was met with applause; seriously, this crowd was weird.

Grandmother started again. "The fairy led Link to many places, like to the Zora fountain and Goron Village." She paused. Behind me, the background changed into pictures of Gorons and Zoras in their respective habitats. "But for cost purposes and limited time we will skip to the part where Link meets Princess Zelda, the beautiful maiden."

Slowly, from the ground, Aryll's painting of Hyrule Castle rose from the ground. The castle didn't look very stable, probably due to my bad tying but that wasn't the problem at the moment. The crowd was expecting a Princess Zelda come on stage, but no one came out.

Grandmother's face began to become paler than usual. "Oh my, I must have forgotten to cast a Princess Zelda." She said quietly. "Well, I guess we can skip this portion of the play also" She said to the crowd. She began to look at her script for the next part of the play when Mido and the rest of his friends stood up from within the crowd with eggs in their hands.

"You ruin the name of the hero! Kokiri gang, attack!"Eggs started flying towards Tingle, Grandmother, and I.

I instinctively pulled out the prop sword and began reflecting the eggs thrown at me. Tingle fell to the ground and went into the fetal position, crying. Grandmother got the worst of it; she was barraged with eggs. I ran towards grandmother but then an egg hit Aryll's Hyrule Castle painting and it began to fall towards all of us. I cut the cardboard with the fake sword and ran towards grandmother to help her.

"Grandmother!" Aryll came over to Grandmother's side with a towel and the two walked away to help clean her off.

Once Grandmother was gone, I turned my attention to Mido. He could bully me all he wanted to, but when he attacks my grandmother, he has to pay. Anger coursed through my body. I ran towards Mido, fake sword in hand. All of his Kokiri gang had run off but Mido was still there, waiting for me.

The crowd still watched, thinking his was part of the play, I guess. They weren't very smart anyways. When I was close enough to him, I slashed and Mido fell to the ground. When he looked up at me he was crying. His hand gripped his arm.

"Link cut me with an actual sword! You all saw it! Arrest him, send him to jail, do anything!"

I backed away from the Kokiri boy and looked at my sword. I swear it was made of plastic before, but now it was an actual sword. It had a purple hilt with the three triangles I saw in my dream engraved. I wanted to drop the sword but I felt like I shouldn't.

The crowd surrounded me and started yelling at me random curses. I was in trouble now and I had no way of escape. I began to back up until I tripped over something. When I looked up I saw the King. He had a stern look on his face yet he looked somewhat scared.

He forced a sympathetic look on his face. "Come on, I can help you" He said. I decided this was the best option for me is I wanted to live so I agreed. The King helped me get away from the crowd. Several women stepped out of a carriage not so far away and went towards the crowd. They seemed to be containing them so that the King and I could be safely transported away.

The king whispered something to one of the women and she nodded her head. We got into the carriage the women exited out of and were off.

I kept looking back at my village as people were getting even more violent. Mido couldn't be seen from where I was at and I was silently thankful for that. That made me feel even worse about what has just happened.

Minutes went by and I had forgotten about the King who has just saved me. "Thank you, Mister King." I said quietly as we rode away from my village. He didn't reply. I looked back at my village from time to time from the distance. The lights the festival had gotten brighter, unnaturally brighter. I began to feel sick inside when began I to smell ash in the air.


End file.
